AN  ADDRESS 


DliWVERED  BY 


.  Jaies  G.  Eaisay,  M.  D., 


/  ^ 


BEFORE    THE 


YOUNG  LADIES 


OF 


AT 


STi^TESVILLE, 


MAY  29TH,    1863. 


Dr.   Ramsay's  Address. 

A.t  the  request  of  the  Faculty  and  pupils 
of  Concord  Female  Colleg-e,  we  this  week  pub- 
lish Dr,  Ramsay's  interesting-  address,  deliv- 
ered in  the  chapel  of  the  Institution  on  the 
29th  of  last  May.  We  were  necessarily  caused 
to  delay  its  publication  until  the  present  issue, 
on  account  of  the  press  of  business,  but  it  has 
lost  none  of  its  interest,  and  will  repay  pe- 
rusal.-— ^The  Iredell  Express,  December  3rd, 
1863. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

The  circumstance  under  which  we  have  convened  to- 
da}',  renders  it  eminently  proper,  if  not  imperative,  that  the 
reflections  of  the  hour  should  be,  mainly,  upon  the  subject 
of  female  education.  When  we  remember  that  the 
Preacher  hath  said,  ''there  is  no  new  thing-  under  the 
sun,"  it  mig-ht  savor  of  affectation  to  say,  that  I  have 
nothing-  new  to  bring-  to  your  attention  and  if  it  should  be 
my  province  to  indulg-e  in  the  repetition  of  what  others 
may  have  inculcated,  under  similar  circumstances,  1  shall 
derive  consolation  from  the  reflection,  that  inspired  prophe- 
cy has  also  proclaimed,  that  "precept  must  be  upon 
precept,    and    line     upon  line." 

Education  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  features,  as 
well  as  the  most  efficient  lever,  of  civilization.  To  its 
meliorating  influence  we  owe,  in  an  eminent  deg-ree, 
our  elevation  above  the  brutes  which  surround  us.  By 
it  we  are  literally  broug-ht  out  from  our  pristine  rude- 
ness, and  trained  up  to  beauty,  happiness,  and  usefulness. 
— Let  me  here  be  understood  to  speak  not  merely  of  men- 
tal, but  also,  of  physical  and  moral  training- — of  the  com- 
plete and  rythmical  developement  of  the  whole  being-; 
which  is  at  once  the  desig-n  and  necessity  of  our  nature. — 
The  Creator  did  not  permit  man  to  fall  from  his  first  es- 
tate of  innocence  and  purity,  that  he  mig-ht  continue  to 
g-rovel  in  darkness  and  misery,  else  He  had  never  opened 
a  door  of  escape;  nor  are  the  blight  and  mildew  of  the 
fall  entirely  consonant  with  man's  nature,  else  he  had 
never  soug-ht  to  emerg-e  from  their  slime  and  filth. —  The 
reflection,  then,  is  as  consolitary  as  it  is  rational,  that  the 
arm  of  Omnipotence  is  always  out-stretched  to  help  those 
eng-aged  in  toiling  up  to  the  elevation  of  the  sons  of  God. 
The  advance  has  been  slow,  but  it  cannot  be  doubted  that, 
during-  these, six  thousand  years,  the  world  has  made  much 
solid  and  substantial  prog-ress.     More  than    four   centuries 


4 
ag-o,  Jack  Cade,  an  Irish  adventurer,  having-  g-ained  some 
advantages  in  a  rebellion  against  Henry  VI  of  England, 
is  represented  by  Shakespeare  as  berating  Lord  Say,  in 
this  style:  "Thou  hast  most  traitorously  corrupted  the 
youth  of  the  realm:  and  whereas  before  our  fathers  had  no 
other  books  but  the  score  and  tally,  thou  has  caused  print- 
ing- to  be  used:  and  contrar}'  to  the  King-,  his  crown  and  dig- 
nity, thou  hast  built  a  paper-mill.  It  will  be  proved  to  thy 
face,  that  thou  hast  men  about  thee,  that  usually  taulk  of 
a  noun  and  a  verb;  and  such  abominable  words,  as  no  chris- 
tian ear  can  endure.''  Such  were  the  sentiments,  the  great 
dramatic  poet,  attributed  to  one,  who  aspired  to  the  throne 
of  Eng-land,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Doubt- 
less much  poetic  license  was  used,  to  convey  much  truth ;  and 
the  sentiments  attributed  to  Cade  were  not  of  a  perfect  in- 
dex of  the  ignorance  of  the  more  common  people  of  those 
times. 

Let  us  advance  two  centuries  later  and  contrast,  the 
estimate  which  the  Puritans  of  New  Eng-land,  placed  upon 
education,  with  that  of  Cade  in  the  times  of  Henry.  I  am 
aware  that  h  is  the  fashion  of  the  times,  to  deride  and  tra- 
duce the  Puritans;  but  who  will  not  applaud  ihe  law, 
which  sprang-  from  their  customs  and  decreed  that  "none  of 
the  brethren  shall  suffer  so  much  barbarism  in  their  fam- 
ilies, as  not  to  teach  their  children  and  apprentices  so  much 
learning-  as  may  enable  them  perfectly  to  read  the  English 
tongue." 

In  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy 
six — more  than  a  century  later — our  fathers  met  in  conven- 
tion, at  Halifax,  in  this  g-ood  Old  North  State,  and  framed 
a  State  Constitution.  They  went  a  step  further,  than  the 
Puritans  of  the  preceding  g-eneration,  and  as  an  evidence 
of  their  appreciation  of  the  blessings  ol  education,  and  as 
an  earnest  of  their  intention  to  secure  the  same  to  their 
posterity,  they  decreed: 

"That  a  school  or  schools  shall  be  established  by  the 
Leg-islature,  for  the  convenient  instruction  of  youth,  with 
such  salaries  to  the  masters,  paid  by  the  public,  as  may  en- 
able   them    to  instruct  at  low  prices,  and  all    useful    learn- 


5 
ing  shall  be  duly  encouraged  and  promoted  in  one  or  more 
universities."  The  advance  here,  we  see,  is  from  private  to 
public  instruction,  and   is  placed  beyond  a  contingency. 

The  arts  have  contributed,  within  the  last  few 
centuries,  most  successfully,  to  the  perpetuation  of  science. 
The  art  of  printing,  the  discovery  of  the  mariner's  compass, 
the  application  of  steam  to  locomotion,  and  electricity 
to  the  transmission  of  intelligence,  have  rendered  the  at- 
tainments of  one  age  so  accessable  to  another,  that  know- 
ledge is,  to  a  great  extent,  a  thing  of  memory  and  its  ac- 
quisition a  labor  of  synthesis.  Notwithstanding  all  this, 
it  must  be  conceded  that  ignorance,  like  ^'spiritual  wicked- 
ness," is  still  abroad  in  the  land,  even  "in  high  places." 
No  age  can,  without  a  peradventure,  secure  its  own  eleva- 
tion to  its  successor,  nor  can  the  attainments  of  one  gen- 
eration become  those  of  another,  without  an  effort.  Each 
generation  has,  substantially,  to  emerge  from  the  same 
level,  and  toil-upwards  for  itself;  and  the  same  is  true  of 
every  individual.  Hence  it  is  that  history  is  certainly 
repeating  itself;  and  the  joys  and  sorrows,  reverses  and 
triumphs  of  one  generation  are  those  of  another.  Hence 
it  is  that  the  same  college  at  which  the  mother  was  in- 
structed, is  preserved  for  the  daughter;  and  the  same 
truths  which  were  taught  the  one,  are  applicable  to  the 
other.  For  this  reason,  every  little  girl  in  my  presence, 
must  learn  to  labor,  and  labor  to  learn.  Those,  then, 
make  a  fatal  mistake,  whether  they  be  parents  or  children, 
who  suppose  that  such  progress  has  been  attained  in  the 
art  of  teaching,  as  to  preclude  the  vigorous  employment,  on 
their  part,  of  all  the  energies  and  appliances  which  were 
indespensable  in  former  times. 

The  providence  of  our  fathers,  and  the  facilities  of  the 
age  have  given  us  educational  advantages,  surpassing  any 
preceding  age  or  country,  if  we  except,  perhaps,  the  com- 
mon school  system  of  Prussia,  and  a  few  of  the  universities 
of  the  old  world.  But  it  is  a  most  remarkable  fact  that, 
until  within  comparatively  a  recent  period,  nearly  all 
the  educational  facilities  of  the  times,  have  been  afforded 
to  males,  while  the  female  portion  of  the  human  family  has 


6 
been  most  scantily  provided  for.  It  is  a  melancholy,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  most  sig-nificant  fact,  that  it  is  only 
in  countries  blessed  with  knowledge,  and  especially  with 
Christianity,  that  women  have  attained  to  social  position, 
and  any  elevation  above  that  of  practical  slavery.  In  Mo- 
hammedan countries,  even  the  middle  classes  of  females 
— who  are  said  to  enjoy  far  more  liberty  than  the  higher 
— are  shut  up  in  one  end  of  their  houses,  and  the  key  of 
the  only  door  leading  to  their  apartment  is  held  by  the  hus- 
band. It  is  a  great  privilege  to  be  permitted  to  go  in  and 
out  at  pleasure.  Pigs,  dogs,  women,  and  other  impure  an- 
imals, are  lorbidden,  by  law,  to  enter  a  mosque;  and  the 
hour  of  prayer  must  not  be  proclaimed  by  a  female,  a  mad- 
man, a  drunkard  or  a  decrepit  person.  Polygamy  is  the 
rule  with  the  wealthy  Turks;  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  most  beautiful  and  lovely  females  are  shut  up  within 
the  walls  of  the  harems — slaves  to  the  sensuality  of  the 
Sultan.  These  female  slaves  are  sold  in  the  slave  mar- 
kets of  Constantinople;  having  been  previously  bought  or 
impressed  in  Circassia — a  land  famed,  ever  since  the  days 
of  Sarah,  the  wife  of  Abraham,  for  the  beauty  of  its  fe- 
males. The  Persians  are  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  carry 
their  wives  and  children  with  them  to  the  field  of  battle. 
They  do  so,  they  say,  that  the  sight  of  all  that  is  most 
dear  to  them  may  animate  them  to  fight  more  valiantly 
in  their  defense.  And  yet  every  grandee  in  Persia  has 
his  harem  of  incarcerated  women;  and  the  monarch  his 
seraglio — a  perfect  city  in  minature — where  women,  alone, 
fill  all  the  offices,  even  to  that  of  chief  equerry,  and  cap- 
tain of  the  gate.  Notwithstanding  thischivalr}^,  and  boast- 
ed affection  for  the  sex,  the  law  which  requires  the  testi- 
mony of  four  women,  when  the  declaration  of  two  men  is 
sufficient,  evinces  the  true  estimate,  and  real  contempt,  in 
which  their  women  are  held. 

'^The  Shaster,  or  Hindoo  Bible,  forbids  a  woman  to  see 
dancing,  hear  music,  wear  jewels,  blacken  her  eye  brows, 
eat  dainty  food,  sit  at  a  window,  or  view  herself  in  a  mir- 
ror, during  the  absence  ot  her  husband;  and  it  allows  him 
to  divorce  her  if   she    has  no    sons,    injures   his   property. 


7 
scolds  him,  quarrels  with  another,  or  presumes  to  eat  before 
he  has  finished  his  meal."  If  the  Hindoo  women  are  like 
many  Americans,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  state  of  self- 
denial  more  g-alling-  and  intolerable  than  that  of  never  be- 
ing- permitted  to  see  dancing-,  hear  music,  wear  jewels, 
sit  by  a  window,  and  view  themselves  in  a  mirror  except 
in  the  presence  of  their  husbands.  Were  these  rules  ob- 
served among  us,  many  of  our  better  halves  would  grow 
exceedingly  affectionate,  and  the  demand  for  our  life-giv- 
ing presence  would  be  constant  and  imperative.  No  Hin- 
doo woman  is  allowed  to  give  evidence  in  a  court  of  jus- 
tice. Even  the  higher  classes  are  forbidden  to  read  or 
write;  the  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  people  inducing- 
the  belief,  that  these  accomplishments  would  unfit  the  fe- 
males for  the  duties  of  domestic  life,  and  bring  untold  mis- 
fortune upon  them.  Wives  never  call  their  husband  by 
name  but  always  say,  ''the  master;"  and  yet,  so  strong  is 
the  natural  affection  which  the  great — but  to  them  un- 
known— God  has  implanted  in  the  breast  of  these  deluded 
women,  that  when  permitted  to  leave  the  zananah,  they 
frequently  accompany  their  masters  to  the  field  of  battle, 
and  when  wounded,  implore  their  husbands  to  kill  them 
to  avoid  falling-  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies. 

The  ancient  Kgyptians  believed  the  Nile  would  not 
overflow  and  fertilize  the  soil,  and  thus  enable  them  to 
raise  beautiful  crops,  unless  it  was  appeased  by  a  human 
sacrifice.  Hence,  it  was  their  annual  custom  to  select  one 
of  their  most  beautiful  maidens,  and  after  decorating-  her 
in  the  most  magnificent  manner,  to  plunge  her  into  the 
stream,  where  she  perished  beneath  the  waves,  and 
furnished  food  for  their  crocodile  g-ods.  A  similar  custom 
is  said  to  have  prevailed  in  Africa  upon  the  Niger. 

In  no  country  in  the  world,  perhaps,  is  the  condition  of 
women  more  deplorable  than  in  Africa.  In  the  depart- 
ments of  Dahomey  and  Ashantee,  the  women  perform  all 
the  manual  labor^  even  to  the  building  of  their  houses,  while 
the  men  regale  themselves  in  indolence  and  ease,  looking 
on  while  their  wives  perform  these  labors,  with  more  com- 
placency    than  women  look   upon  their   toiling  husbands 


8 
in   christian   countries.     At  the  death  of  a  King-  his  wives, 
and  his  slaves  of  both  sexes,  often  to  the  number  of  one  hun- 
dred, are  put  to  death,  from  the   superstitious  idea  that  he 
will  need  their  attendance  in  another  world. 

Were  it  not  for  the  fact,  that  is  becoming-  fashionable 
to  eulogize  England  and  her  stable  institutions,  I  should 
not  allude  to  the  reasons  given  by  some  of  her  male 
lawg-ivers,  for  the  law  which  enacts  that  ^'sons  shall  be 
preferred  before  daug-hters,"  in  the  distribution  of 
property.  The  complacent  lawgivers  say,  ^'the  sons 
shall  be  preferred,"  because  they  are  "the  worthiest  of 
blood."  On  the  contrary  it  is  affirmed,  that  women  are  ca- 
pable, in  law,  of  serving-  in  almost  all  of  the  offices  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain.  It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
however,  that  this  privilege  extends  to  but  a  very  few  of 
the  women — to  those  only,  who  are  so  fortunate  as  to  be 
descended  from  the  nobility.  The  great  mass  of  the  women 
of  England  are  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  not  only  of  baser 
blood,  than  th«ir  noted  lords  and  sisters,  but  all  of  them, 
are  bloodless  creatures  when  compared  with  the  lords  of 
creation.  In  Republican  Rome  the  women  inherited  equal- 
ly with  the  men;  and  so  it  is  in  .Republican  America. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  women  will  study  this  subject 
of  blood — will  enlarge  upon  the  reasons  which  have  satis- 
fied the  male  lawgivers  of  England,  that  sons  are  "the 
worthiest  of  blood,"  when  compared  with  daughters — 
before  they  conclude  to  supplant  the  republican  institutions 
of  our  fathers,  with  the  monarchical  systems,  under  whose 
tyranny  they  groaned;  and  to  escape  from  which  they  en- 
dured untold  hardships;  and  poured  out  the  crimson  current 
of  life  itself,  upon  victorious  fields  of  strife  and  carnage. 

Such  was  and  such  is  still  the  degraded  condition  of 
women  in  Mohammedan  and  Pagan  lands.  Cast  now  the 
eye  abroad  over  the  nations  covered  with  the  light  of  know- 
ledge, as  with  a  garment,  and  with  the  blessings  of  that 
Christianity  which  comes  "with  healing  in  his  wings," 
and  has  elevated  women  from  their  low  estate  and  given 
them  husbands  that  love,  defend  and  cheerish  them,  sons 
that  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed,  and  nations  that    accord 


9 
to  them  the  place  allotted  by  heaven — and  draw  the  con- 
trast. Look  at  the  picture,  my  female  friends,  and  day  by 
day,  at  matin  and  vesper,  your  hearts  will  exclaim  with 
Mary  of  old,  "My  soul  doth  mag-nify  the  Lord;  for  he  hath 
reg-arded  the  low  estate  of  his  handmaiden,  and  exalted 
them  of  low  de^-ree:  for  he  that  is  mig-hty  hath  done  for  me 
g-reat  thing-s;  and  holy  is  his  name." 

There  is  an  awakened  feeling-  throug-hout  the  civilized 
world  with  reg-ard  to  female  education;  and  we  hail  this  as 
the  harbinger  of  brighter  times  for  future  g-enerations.  It 
must  be  confessed,  however,  that  even  at  this  day,  and  in 
this  country,  many  erroneous  ideas  and  prejudices  exist 
upon  this  subject.  Because  woman's  physical,  and  perhaps 
her  mental  and  moral  conformation  is  not  identical  with 
man,  she  is  too  often  denied  their  full  development:  and 
because  the  Creator  denominated  her  a  help-meet,  it  has 
been  too  g-enerally  assumed  that  her  position  must  be  sub- 
ordinate.—Physiologists  inform  us  that,  as  a  general  rule, 
her  brain  is  a  fraction  smaller  than  that  of  man;  and  we 
all  know  that  her  frame  is  more  attenuated,  delicate  and 
beautiful.  The  brain  of  Madam  De  Stael,  however,  weig-hed 
equal  to  thatot  the  intellectual  giant  Byron,  who  "stooped 
to  touch  the  loftiest  thought."  It  may  well  be  doubted 
whether  any  mental  advantage  remains  with  man;  because 
if  he  excels  in  one  department,  woman  does  in  another;  if 
his  intellectual  faculties  are  more  vigorous,  hers  are  more 
sprightly;  if  his  power  of  combination  is  superior,  her  im- 
agination is  more  vivid,  and  her  sentiments  and  emotions 
are  far   more  perfect. 

Notwithstanding  the  awakened  feeling  and  progress  in 
the  few  past  years,  with  regard  to  her  education,  she  has 
seldom,  if  ever,  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the  lordly  sex. 
Where  are  woman's  universities,  and  how  long  and  unin- 
terruptedly has  she  been  permitted  to  remain  at  the  few 
schools  and  colleges,  scarcely  deserving  the  name,  which 
have  been  doled  out  to  her,  as  a  favor,  rather  than  as  a 
right?  It  will  be  time  enough  to  decide  this  question,  when 
she  has  been  permitted  to  enter  the  lists,  and  compete 
with  man  upon  equal  terms 


10 
A  strang-e-atid  as  we  have  seen  a  Hindoo  notion—is  still 
prevalent, in  some  parts^  that  education  unfits  a  woman  for 
the  duties  of  her  station  in  life — that  it  makes  her  pe- 
dantic and  affected,  and  causes  her  to  abjure  "the  orna- 
ment of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit."  If  this  notion  is  correct, 
then  ignorance  is  the  best  civilizer  of  the  human  race;  and 
ignorance  of  the  duties  of  the  female,  in  her  station  in  life, 
the  best  qualification  for  fulfilling  them.  In  the  ironical 
language  of  Sydney  Smith,  ''women  are  delicate  and  re- 
fined only  because  they  are  ignorant;  they  manage  their 
household  only  because  they  are  ignorant;  they  attend 
to  their  children  only  because  they  know  no  better."  If 
women,  who  have  little  education,  are  vain  and  pedantic  it 
is  only  because  they  have  never  taken  large  and  tranquil- 
izing  droughts  from  the  Pierian  spring — a  little  more 
knowledge  would  sober  them.  Vanity  and  pedantry  are 
prompted  by  the  supposition,  that  the  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge is  not  equal  and  general;  and  by  the  presumption 
that  their  possessor  luxuriates  in  rare  and  uncommon  at- 
tainments. No  lady  is  vain  because  she  possesses  teeth 
and  hair,  two  eyes  and  cheeks, but  because  it  is  a  fact,  eith- 
er real  or  imaginary,  that  her  teeth  are  more  pearl -like, 
her  hair  more  glossy,  and  her  ringlets  more  beautiful,  her 
eyes  more  facinating  and  sparkling,  and  her  cheeks  more 
ruddy  and  inviting  than  those  of  other  women.  The  cure 
for  literary  vanity,  is  to  render  high  intellectual  attain- 
ments more  common:  pedants  and  blues  will  then  become 
extinct,  or  migrate  to  more  genial  climes. 

It  has  been  said  that  * 'women  have,  of  course,  all  ig- 
norant men  for  enemies  to  their  instruction,  who  being 
bound  (as  they  think)  in  point  of  sex,  to  know  more,  are 
not  well  pleased  in  point  of  fact  to  know  less."  This 
accounts  at  once  for  the  numerous  and  silly  objections 
which  are  from  time  to  time  raised  against  female  educa 
tion,  and  for  the  imperfect  opportunities  afforded  women  for 
mental  improvement.  We  are  not  sure  that  even  learned 
men  have  not  a  little  jealousy;  and  it  is  by  no  means  cer- 
tain that  they  would  not  feel  themselves  shorn  of  much 
of   their  importance,  if  compelled  to  abandon  the  monopoly 


11 

of  science,  and  compete  upon  a  common  forum,  for  the  wreath 
of  victory,  with  the  weaker  sex.  Nor  is  pedantry  confined 
to  women  or  to  literary  characters  and  pursuits.  Vanity  is 
a  common  weakness  of  both  sexes,  and  every  pursuit.  It 
is  found,  as  the  offspring-  of  ignorance,  every  where — the 
farmer  and  mechanic,  the  physician  and  lawyer,  the  preach- 
er and  butcher  (not  to  mention  the  dancing-  master,)  all 
have  it;  and  the  most  ignorant  are  infested,  perhaps,  most 
of  all.  It  was  the  wisest  man  who  pronounced  all  thing's 
"vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit;"  had  he  known  less,  even  he 
might  have  been  proved   vain  and  presumptious;   because, 

"Fools  rush  in  where  ang-els  fear  to  tread." 

The  conclusion  of  the   whole  matter  is,  that   knowledge 
is  the  best  cure  for  conceit  and  folly. 

Again:  a  want  of  proper  appreciation  of  female  educa- 
tion is  evidenced  in  the  eager  pursuit  of  riches,  and  the 
worship  of  Dives  to  the  exclusion  of  Minerva;  and  unless 
more  correct  ideas  get  abroad,  on  this  subject,  the  full 
development  of  the  female  mind  cannot  be  attained,  in  this 
countr}^  The  mania  for  riches  is  furious,  so  much  so,  that 
it  subordinates  everything  else  to  its  service.  Even  knowl- 
edge is  sought  for  that  it  may  contribute  to  wealth.  The 
true  path,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  to  happiness  lies,  not 
through  the  temple  of  knowlege,  but  though  the  tables 
of  the  money  changer.  It  is  impossible,  as  a  rule,  that 
property  can  remain,  undiminished,  in  the  same  hands,  in 
this  country,  longer  than  one  generation  A  father  toils 
and  accumulates  property,  to  be  divided  among  his  chil- 
dren, to  be  again  subdivided  among  theirs;  and  thus  the 
elevation  to  riches  is  scarcely  gained,  until  the  cumula- 
tions of  a  life  time  of  toil  and  labor  like  the  stone  of 
Sysephus,  roll  bounding  to  the  level  whence  they  came. 
When  a  richly  stored  mind  comes  to  be  valued  more 
than  glittering  wealth;  when  knowledge  is  esteemed  of 
more  value  than  costly  array;  and  when  it  is  sought  after, 
not  only  as  the  lever  of  power  and  the  key  to  the  coffers  of 
gold,  but  for  its  intrinsic  worth,  as  the  way  and  means  to 
happiness  and  usefulness,   then,    and    then   only,    may    we 


12 
look  for  a  proper  appreciation  of  female  education,  in   this 
country.     Thus   we   may  look  for  female  schools,  colleg-es 
and  universities,  where  the  little  miss  will  learn  something- 
more   than  affectation  and  cant;  when  her  time  will  not  be 
consumed    in  '^practicing-    attitudes"  before  the  glass,  and 
growing-  sentimental  over  billet  doux,  albums,  and  novels; 
and   when  she    will   cease    to   be  a  thing-  of  gossamer  and 
tiffany — a   nolime-tangere  of  roug-e    and  pearl-white — but 
being-   educated   for   practical  life,  she  will  become  a  prac- 
tical creature,   and  fill  her  true  position  in  the  famil}^  and 
in  society.     Education  is  properly  divisible  into  two  stages 
or   departments,    which    are   complements  of   each  other. 
The   first  is  parental;  the  second  academic.     The  greatest 
impediment   to   the    advancement  of  the  child  in  school,  is 
the  deficiency,    or   entire   want,  of  parental  discipline  and 
training-.     It  is  scarcely  possible  to  realize  the  untold  evils 
inflicted   upon    the  world  by  the  improper  discharge  of  pa- 
rental   duty;    or  to  over  estimate  the  blessings  of  training 
up  children  in  the  way  they  should  g-o.     I  solemnly  believe 
that    the   dissolution  of  the  United  States,  once  the  pride, 
glory    and    strength  of  America,  and  the  calamities  of  the 
present   fartricidal   war  consequent  thereon,  are  eminently 
referable  to  this  cause.     We  all  know  that  within  the  past 
quarter    of    a   century,    perhaps  earlier,  there  has  arisen — 
not   only    at    the  North  but  at  the  South  also — a  dashing, 
flashing,    impudent   exquisite,    called    ''Young    America." 
The  "young  hopeful"  was  confided,  in  his  earliest  year?,  to 
the  darkey   nurse    at  the  the   South,    and   Irish   help,    at 
the    North,    while    his   mother   was   gadding  and  tattling 
from    house    to   house,   or  if  perchance  at  home,  lolling  on 
her   sofa,   in  most  profound  reverie  over  the  last  novel;  the 
father,    perhaps,    in    the  meantime,  discussing  mint-juleps 
and    politics   in  grog  shops  and  taverns,  or  hybernating  at 
the  faro-bank.     Every  whim  and  caprice  of  "mother's  dar- 
ling" had  to  be  gratified.     Chains,  toys,  dogs,  darkies  and 
helps,   were  alike  chartised,  for  his  amusement  or  appease- 
ment   whenever   his   vindictivness   evinced   itself  in  kicks 
and  squalls.     Before  he   had  shed  his  pin-a-fore  "the  little 
man"  had   set    up  for  himself.     His  nocturnal  perambula- 


13 
lions  were  begun,  and  his  mother  did  not  know  he  was  out; 
they  were  continued  and  he  did  dot  care  whether  she  knew 
it  or  not  Raised  up  thus  in  contempt  of  parental  law  and 
authority,  he  proceeded  to  defy  civil  and  religious  laws. 
The  fathers  of  the  republic  were  old  fogies  to  him;  inno- 
vation was  his  progress — the  Bible  and  the  constitution 
were  obsolete,  and  his  shekinah  was  "manifest  destiny" 
and  'Hhe  higher  law."  Having  nearly  the  whole  race  of 
his  contemporaries  for  accomplices,  he  operated  for  the 
destruction  of  order,  law  and  government,  and  finding  co- 
operators  both  North  and  South,  has,  we  fear,  but  too  well 
succeeded. 

Depend  upon  it,  my  friends,  children  must  be  governed. 
Folly  is  bound  up  in  their  hearts,  and  there  are  occasions 
on  which  the  rod  must  not  be  spared.  Children  governed 
well  at  home,  are  obedient  at  school,  and  submit  to  the 
laws  of  their  countrj^. — When  taught  habits  of  industry  at 
home,  they  will  not  be  idle  at  their  books.  When  taught 
to  toil  with  iheir  hands,  in  useful  labor,  they  strive  to 
learn  i;i  mental  effort.  Useful  labor  thus  becomes  a  habit, 
which  brings  forth  fruit,  an  hundred  fold,  upon  the  great 
field  of  life.  On  the  contrary  children  not  governed  at 
home,  will  not  submit  lo  government  at  school.  The  lit- 
tle girl,  for  example,  who  has  been  indulged  in  every 
whim  and  foolish  notion  at  home,  will  not  only  be  incor- 
rigible at  school,  but  the  man  that  takes  her  for  a  wife, 
will  find  it  ''better  to  dw  11  in  the  corner  of  a  house-top," 
than  with  her  '  in  a  wide  house.'  Will  she  be  the  virtuous 
woman  described  by  Solomon  who  openeth  her  mouth 
with  wisdom,  and  hath  the  law  of  kindness  under  her 
tongue?  Will  her  hands  hold  the  distalf,  and  layeth  she 
her  hands  to  the  spindle?  Will  she  rise  while  it  is  yet 
night  and  give  meat  to  her  household  and  a  portion  to  her 
maidens?  No,  she  will  be  and  do  none  of  these;  but 
whether  married  or  single,  she  will,  as  Paul  sa3^s,  learn  to 
be  idle,  wandering  about  from  house  to  house:  and  not  only 
idle  but  a  tattler  also  and  a  busybody,  speaking  thin.s 
which  she  ought  not. 

A  profound  truth  is  poetically  expressed  when  we  sav, 


14 

"  'Tis  education  forms  the  common  mind, 
Just  as  the  twig-  is  bent  the  tree's  inclined." 

First  impressions  are  the  most  important,  because  the 
most  lasting-. — There  must  be  a  reform  in  family  education. 
To  this  end,  as  parents,  we  must  learn  first  to  g-overn  our- 
selves; and  second,  to  set  a  proper  example  before  our 
children.  No  one  who  cannot  g-overn  himself  is  fit  to 
g-overn  others:  and  the  same  is  true  with  a  parent  who 
teaches  one  action  and  practices  another.  These  thing's 
require  much  thought  and  self-denial— constant  vig-ilance 
and  effort,  and,  when  properly  performed,  much  prayer  for 
g-uidance  and  direction.  But  all  this,  and  much  more, 
must  be  submitted  to  and  endured,  or  the  end  cannot  be 
attained.  Substitutions  may  answer  in  the  warfare  of 
nations,  but  not  in  the  warfare  of  life.  The  school  and 
academy  only  continue  and  inforce  that  instruction  and 
mental  dir.cipline,  which  shculd  beg-in  at  home.  Napoleon, 
anxious,  and  at  a  loss  what  to  do  for  the  education  of  the 
French  people,  inquired  of  a  lady  what  the  youth  of  the 
nation  needed  in  this  respect,  and  her  laconic  reply  was, 
"mothers."  If  France  had  had  the  rig-ht  sort  of  mothers, 
the  "reign  of  terror"  would  not  have  entitled  her  to  the 
appellation  of  "the  maniac  of  the  nations."  Let  us  take 
warning.  'Is  there  a  mother  present,  to  da}-,  who  has 
neglected  personal  effort,  and  is  relying  upon  this  or  any 
other  institution  of  learning,  ur  upon  any  combination  of 
fortuitous  circumstances,  for  the  formation  of  virtuous  hab 
its  in  her  daughter;  she  may  find,  when  too  late  that  she  has 
fatally  erred.  Is  there  a  patriot  here  who  has  neglected 
family  government,  and  is  relying  upon  schools  and  the 
general  diffusion  of  knowledge  to  promote  order  and  per- 
petuate good  government;  he  will  permit  me  to  tell  him, 
that  he  is  attempting-  to  purify  the  streams  which  flow 
from  a  corrupt  fountain.  No,  let  us  abide  by  the  fact,  that 
it  is  maternal  influence — exerted  for  the  most  part  in  the 
quietude  of  home- — which  must  be  the  great  agent  in  the 
hands  of  God,  in  bringing  back  our  guilty  race  to  duty 
and  to  happiness. ''^ 

*.->ee  The  Mother  at  Home,  pag-e  149. 


15 
It  may  be  laid  down  as  an  axiom,  that  education  should 
be  commensurate  with  the  influence  for  g-ood  which  its 
recipient  is  capable  of  exerting-. —Judg-ed  by  the  test,  fe- 
male education  should  be  most  thorough  and  complete.  It 
is  true  that  at  woman's  bidding-  Adam  ate  the  fruit 

"Of  that  forbidden  tree  whose  mortal  taste 
Brong-ht  death  into  the  world  and  all  our  wo." 

At  her  behest  also,  the  head  of  John,  the  Baptist  was  ex- 
hibited in  a  charg-er.  The  beauty  of  the  wayward  Helen, 
not  only  kept  the  ancient  world  in  arms  for  ten  long-  years, 
but  was  the  cause,  also,  of  ^'woes  unnumbered"  to  Greece 
and  Troy.  Mark  Anthony,  and  the  mig-hty  Caesar  kneeled 
in  turn,  before  the  beautii'ul  but  proflig-ate  Cleopatra,  and 
forg-ot  to  conquer  while  entang-led  in  the  meshes  of  love. 
But  it  were  an  ungracious  task  to  continue  this  narrative 
of  evil  influence  and  crime.  Let  us  turn  to  the  brig-ht 
side  of  the  picture.  The  celebrated  traveller  Mung-o  Park 
bears  this  testimony  to  the  g-oodness  and  kindness  of 
woman. —  'In  all  my  wandering-s  says  he,  ''I  found  women 
uniformly  kind  and  compassionate,  and  I  can  truly  say  as 
my  predecessor,  Mr.  Ledg-ard,  has  said  before  me:  'To  a 
w^oman  I  never  addressed  myself  in  the  languag-e  of  decency 
and  friendship  without  receiving-  a  decent  and  friendly 
answer.  If  I  was  hungry  or  thirsty,  wet  or  sick,  they  did 
not  hesitate,  like  the  men,  to  perform  a  generous  action. 
In  so  free  and  so  kind  a  manner  did  they  contribute  to  my 
relief,  that  if  I  was  dry,  I  drank  the  sweetest  draught,  and 
if  hung-ry,  I  ate  the  coarsest  morsal  with  double  relish.'  " 
What  would  the  world  be  without  the  kind  iind  beneficient 
influence  of  woman?  The  dew  of  Hermon  fell  not  more 
g-cntly  upon  the  mountains  of  Zion,  than  her  g-entle  looks 
and  benig-nant  smiles — yea  her  crystal  tears  fall  with  life- 
giving-  power  and  gentle  balm  upon  the  efforts  of  virtuous, 
and  even  wayward  man,  while  traveling-  throug-h  this  vale 
of  tears.  With  angelic  affection  she  cradles  our  infancy 
upon  her  bosom;  and  when  sickness  comes  she  bathes  the 
aching-  brow,  and  in  the  stillness  of  the  long-  nig-ht,  when 
man  and  nature  rest,  her  watching-  eye  refuses  to  slumber. 


16 
and  star  by  star  fades  away,  she,  solitary  and  alone,  awaits 
the  dawning-  lig-ht.  When  in  answer  to  her  prayers  our 
diseases  are  rebuked,  no  heart  turns  more  devoutfully  thank- 
ful to  onr  God;  and  when  the  fresh  earth  shall  cover  our 
mortal  bodies,  no  tears  will  fall — no  heart  will  bleed — like 
hers:  and  no  hand  but  her's  will  plant  the  ever  living- 
green  upon  our  g-raves — the  sad  but  true  emblem  of  her 
never  dying-  affection. 

'•There  is  none 
In  all  this  cold  and  hollow  world,  no  fount 
Of  deep,  strong-,  deathless  love,  save  that  within 
A  mother's  heart." 

No  nation,  on  the  tide  of  time,  has  g-rown  g-reat  and 
strong-,  when  women  were  not  strong-  and  g"reat,  honorable 
and  honored.  Their  g-reatness  and  streng-th  may  not  have 
been  visible,  but  must  have  been  felt — may  not  have  been 
accorded,  but  surely  existed. — x\mong-  the  Hebrew  women, 
Sarah  was  a  faithful  wife,  Jochebea,  a  faithful  mother 
Meriam  a  prophetess,  whose  visit  to  the  Red  Sea,  and 
whose  song-  of  praise  to  that  God  who  had  ^'triumphed 
g-loriousl}',  and  thrown  the  horse  and  his  rider  into  ihe 
sea''  as  she  struck  the  loud  sounding-  timbrel — inspired  the 
courage,  elevated  the  aspirations  and  fixed  the  faith  of  the 
chosen  people.  When  we  turn  to  the  republics  of  Rome 
and  Greece  we  find  that,  althoug-h,  a  Sempronamig-ht  dance 
"with  more  grace  and  art  than  became  a  virtuous  woman," 
yet  there  were  the  chaste  Lucreta,  the  innocent  Virgilla 
and  the  patriotic  Vetruria.  The  Grecian  mother  could 
send  forth  her  sons  to  battle  with  the  injunction  to  return, 
with  their  shields  or  upon  them — to  conquer  or  die.  It  is 
said  that  the  gifted  and  eloquent  Pericles  was  indebted  to 
the  beautiful  and  accomplished  Aspasia,  for  much  of  his 
success  in  life.  Plato  asserts  that  this  most  extraordinary 
woman  was  the  preceptress  of  Socrates,  and  composed  the 
celebrated  funeral  oi"ation,  which  Pericles  delivered  upon 
those  who  fell  in  the  Peloponessian  war,  which  was  the 
crowning"  effort  of  his  oratory  and  has  immortalized  his 
name.  We  cannot  hush  the  voice  of  war,  but  we  can  calm, 
for    a   moment,    the  tumults  of  passion.   ,  Let  us  look  back 


17 
upon  the  broad  land  of  Washing-ton.  We  know  what  it 
was — strong",  great  and  g-lorious;  but  we  know  not — no, 
the  wisest  seer  among-  us  knows  not — what  it  shall  be. 
This  we  know  of  the  sacred  past;  The  United  States  were 
not  g-reat  and  mighty  without  the  agency  of  great  and 
good  women.  There  was  no  man  like  unto  the  father  of 
his  country.  Washington  was  a  good  and  great  man,  be- 
cause he  had  a  good  and  laithful  mother.  That  mother 
once  replied  to  the  encomiems,  which  the  Marquis  de  La 
Fayette,  lavished  upon  her  son,  'T  am  not  surprised  at 
what  George  has  done,  for  he  was  always  a  good  boy." 
Such  was  the  modesty  and  such  too  was  the  faith  of  the 
mother  of  Washington — truly  ^^a  good  tree  bringeth  forth 
good  fruit." 

Randolph,  although  a  genius  of  transcendent  ability, 
was  neither  so  great  nor  so  good  a  man  as  Washington; 
but  he  has  told  us  that  he  was  saved  from  French  infidelity 
only  by  the  recollection  of  the  time,  when  his  sainted 
mother  took  his  little  hands  in  hers,  and  causing  him  to 
bow  at  her  knee,  to  pray  "Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven." 

"O  Mother,  sweetest  name  on  earth, 

We  lisp  it  on  the  knee — 
And  idolize  its  sacred  worth, 

In  manhood's  ministry. 
And  if  I  e'er  in  heaven  appear — 

A  mother's  holy  prayer, 
A  mother's  hand  and  g-entle  tear. 

That  pointed  to  a  Soviour  here 
Shall  lead  the  wanderer  there." 

Young  Ladies:  I  have,  at  detached  intervals  and  at 
great  inconvenience,  gotten  together  these  somewhat  des- 
ultory remarks.     It  has  been  my  aim, 

"To  pour  the  tresh  instruction  o'er  the  mind 
To  breathe  the  enlivening-  spirit,  and  to  fix 
The  generous  purpose  in  the  g-lowing  breast." 

If  I  have  only  imperfecly  succeeded,  I  shall  be  most  ampl}^ 
repaid.  And  now  permit  me  to  ask  you,  why  you  are  here? 
Why  was  this  edifice  erected,  and  this  college  instituted  at 
such    a   cost    of  money,  and  amid  so  many  prayers?     Your 


18 
fathers  and  brothers  are,  perhaps,  far  away  upon  fields 
of  strife  and  blood;  and  your  mothers  and  sisters  toiling- 
and  economizing-  at  home  while  you  are  placed  here.  You 
are  not  here  that  3'ou  may  idle  your  time  away  in  listless 
folly,  and  indulge  your  fancy  and  pride  in  dress  and  pleas- 
ure.    You  are  not  placed  here,  alone 

"To  guide  the  pencil,  tni-n  the  tuneful  page," 
and  cull  the  flowers  only  from  the  g-arden  of  knowledg-e. 
No!  no!!  my  young-  friends,  think  me  not  unkind  when  I 
tell  you,  that  although  you  are  young-  now,  and  your  hearts 
light  and  gay,  this  may  not,  wiM  not,  always  be  the  case. 
May  a  long  life  of  happiness,  and  a  g-reen  old  ag-e  be  3^ours; 
but  remember  that  care  and  sorrows  will  come,  and  s'orms 
of  adversity  may  cross  your  path.  It  is  to  prepare  for  the 
journey  of  life  that  3^ou  are  placed  here.  Learn  to  labor, 
and  labor  tc  learn.  Store  your  minds  with  useful  know- 
ledge. Submit  to  the  regulations  of  your  teachers,  they 
may  appear  arbitrary  and  useless,  but  the  self  denial  ac- 
quired thereby,  will  be  useful  under  far  greater  trials  and 
difficulties,  in  after  life.  Wrap  up,  clothe  yourselves  while 
here — the  storms  of  life  will  surely  overtake  you.  Keep 
your  young-  hearts  pure;  and  let  nothing  that  is  impure 
and  unholy  obtrude  itself  upon  your  thoughts.  Do  these 
things  and  beauty  and  loveliness  will  attend  your  foot- 
steps, happiness  will  wreathe  its  g-arlands  around  your 
brow,    earth    will  be  your  paradise  and  heaven  ycur  home. 

Permit  me,  in  conclusion,  my  friends,  to  indulg-e  in  a 
few  remarks,  which  seem  to  be  called  for  by  the  exigencies 
of  the  times. 

Two  years  ago,  this  was  a  happy  land,  and  peace  and 
prosperity  were  within  our  borders.  The  locomotive  ca- 
reered along  its  iron  track,  in  sportive  majesty,  bearing- 
along  the  gay  and  lovely  among-  men  and  women;  and  the 
copious  products  of  the  workshot  and  farm,  in  exchang-e 
for  the  rich  merchandise  of  foreig-n  nations.  The  song-  of 
the  merry  boatman  re  echoed  from  the  adjacent  hills  as 
his  richly  freighted  vessel  rode  upon  the  gentle  bosom  of 
our  rivers.  The  whistle  of  the  plough-boy  and  the  song- 
of  the  maiden  fell  sweetly  upon  the  ear  of  tlie  good  mother 


19 
and  the  venerable  father,  as  they  reclined  at  ease,  beneath 
the  shade  and  shelter  of  their  peaceful  home. — But  the 
scene  has  chang-ed.  The  Union  of  the  States,  that 
Washing-ton  and  Webster  regarded  as  inseparable  from 
liberty,  is  rent  asunder,  red  armed  war  stalks  through  the 
land,  and  '^carnage  has  sat  down  to  her  repast."  The 
plough-boy  has  left  the  half-ploughed  field,  and  clothed  in 
martial  panoply,  hastened  away  to  the  tented  field:  and 
the  maiden's  merry  song  is  subdued  into  the  funeral  dirge. 
At  morning-,  noon,  and  night,  the  father  s  and  mother's 
eyes  rest  upon  the  vacant  seats  of  their  sons,  and  like 
Jacob  of  old,  the  partriarch  exclaims,  '^Joseph  is  not,  and 
Simeon  is  not,  and  ye  will  take  Benjamin  away — all  thing-s 
are  against  me.'' 

Wars  are  afflictions  which  spring  not  from  the  g-round. 
They  are  the  scourge  of  the  Almingty  upon  the  haughty 
nations  that  trample  under  foot  His  blessings — disregarded 
his  teachings  and  will  have  none  of  His  reproof.  As  a  na- 
tion we  haveforgotten  the  admonitions  of  our  fathers.  They 
founded  the  Republic  upon  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the 
people,  and  warned  us  that  to  preserve  its  blessings,  the  most 
uitiring  efforts  should  be  made,  not  only  to  cultivate  the 
head,  but  also  to  purify  the  heart.  We  have  paid  but  lit- 
tle attention  to  their  precepts.  The  mind  has  indeed,  been 
cultivated,  but  the  heart  has  been  too  much  neglected,  and 
virtue  has  been  crucified,  while  the  superscription  has  been 
in  Greek  and  Latin  and  Hebrew.  A  fatality  seized  upon 
us.  We  fondly  believed  that  the  Union  was  to  be  perpet- 
ual. We  read,  indeed,  in  history  that  Babylon  the  great 
had  fallen.  That  Ur  of  the  Chaldeas  was  no  more.  That 
"Thebes  with  her  hundred  gates,"  and  the  empire  of  the 
Herods  had  returned  to  dust  and  nothingness.  We  knew 
that  the  empire  o£  the  Caesar's  and  Alexander's  arose  and 
flourished,  but  decayed  and  fell — but  stricken  with  judicial 
blindness,  and  without  stopping  to  interrogate  history,  or 
to  ponder  upon  its  teachings,  we  fondly  believed  our  cities 
would  rise  and  our  harvests  would  wave,  and  peace  and 
plenty,  quiet  and  concord  would  bless  'Hhe  land  of  the  free 
and    the  home  of  the  brave,"  until  the  mighty  God  should 


20 
come,  to  reap  the  harvest  of  the  living  and  the  dead.     Our 
chart    and    compass  were  thrown  aside.     We  have  escaped 
the  whirlpool,  but  have  been  wrecked  upon  the  rock. 

Let  us  hope  that  it  is  not  too  late  to  take  warning-. 
Let  us  see  to  it  that  we  cherish  the  spirit  of  liberty — ra- 
tional, reg-ulated  Constitutional  Liberty,  at  the  leaven  of 
our  hearts:  and  while  our  armies  are  striving-  upon  the  en- 
sang-uined  field  for  national  independence,  let  us  see  to  it 
that  our  individual  liberties  are  safe  Let  us  dispel  our 
delusions  and  study  history  anew.  The  times  are  again 
upon  us  that  try  men's  souls.  The  work  before  us  is  noth- 
ing- less  than  a  new  solution  of  the  problem  of  self-g-overn- 
ment,  and  a  rebuilding-  of  the  temple  of  liberty.  Let  us 
cease  to  worship  men,  or  the  work  of  men's  hands,  Unions  or 
Confederacies,  Empires  or  Monarchies;  but  let  us  return  to 
the  worship  ot  the  Lord  our  God,  let  us  bow  alone  to  truth. 
I  call  upon  the  mothers  in  Israel,  upon  ^^both  the  young- 
men  and  maidens;  old  men  and  children"  to  bow  to  truth 
alone — truth  social,  truth  political,  truth  eternal.  Let 
light  shine!  Be  afraid  of  nothing-  but  error.  Must  any- 
thing- be  kept  in  darkness?  it  is  evil,  show  it. — Let  others 
do  as  they  may,  but  as  for  me,  with  the  help  of  God,  I 
henceforth  say  to  truth,  as  did  Ruth  to  Naomi: — "Entreat 
me  not  to  leave  thee,  or  to  return  from  following-  after 
thee;  for  whither  thou  g-oest  I  will  g"o;  and  where  thou 
lodg-est  I  will  lodg-e:  th}^  people  shall  be  my  people,  and 
thy  God  my  God." 


